


Beneath The Pining Sky

by Everyday_Im_Preaching



Category: Gravity Falls, Homestuck
Genre: Crossover, Dream Bubbles, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Kisses, Longing, Older!Eridan, Older!Mabel, Pining, Really them just being sad/cute, Starfish Shipping, rarepair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 22:50:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10581126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Everyday_Im_Preaching/pseuds/Everyday_Im_Preaching
Summary: She was a dream. So was he. But that was never enough for the two of them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> First off: thank you for opening this fic! This is my number one ship--I ship it above all else. Even though it's the king, queen, and oligarchy of rarepairs.  
> Please enjoy!
> 
> Warning:  
> I haven't written Eridan in awhile so I'm sorry if he's ooc.

Eridan could hear her breathing—no, he could _feel_ her. Even in dream bubbles, he could feel the way her heat ebbed from her fingers and slid into his as they lay intertwined on the grass above his head. Tilting his face up, he caught a whiff of her hair—it smelled of burning, of ash and fire. The soft scent of super glue and plastic was layered underneath, nothing cloying or teasing about it. It just was.

“Mabel.” Eridan muttered after a moment, tugging at her fingers. She let out a soft, placating noise, and cracked open an eye. Mabel briefly tugged their hands apart so she could roll over on to her belly, perfect, lip-gloss pink lips quirked into a mischievous smile. He looked up at her, giving her a shy smile in return.

“What's up?” She asked, tilting her head to the side; her hair cascaded in a soft curtain over her shoulder, a few strands getting caught in the neck of her sweater. “You've been kind of quiet tonight—is something wrong?” her voice dropped, fingers finding Eridan's again. “Do you need to talk?”

“Yes, but not-not about that.” Eridan argued instantly, almost against himself. Mabel cocked an eyebrow at the troll, but said nothing. She wiggled forward, until her face was hovering above Eridan's. Her free hand found the side of the troll's face, brushing her thumb against his temple and running her long, slender fingers down the sharp line of his jaw.

“Spill the beans, fish-face.” Mabel demanded, cheeks puffing out slightly with her tease. Eridan's gills fluttered gently, flushing a light purple. Her lips found the area above his right eye, hot against his skin. “You can trust me.”

“I...I'm just...do you think we'll ever meet? Awake? I'd like too.” The words came out in a rush, only stumbling over his stutter a little. “I'd like to meet you and be with you and show you my hive--” his cheeks flushed a heavy purple now, breath coming a little faster, nerves throttling his throat.

Mabel's laugh interrupted him, loud and raucous, crashing through the silence around them.

“Eri, I'd love that too.” She agreed, pinching his jaw and getting an indignant grunt. Her eyes darted away; they'd grown sad in seconds. “I want that so much, but...” she dropped her head, knocking her forehead against Eridan's. “I'm not sure how to go about doing it. I was never the brains in my family. And Dipper thinks you're just some kind of dream.”

“Well, _technically_ speaking, we're in a dream.” Eridan corrected, finned ears twitching. Mabel pinched his jaw again, and he turned his head to press his lips to her punishing fingers. She giggled.

“It's a nice dream. _You're_  a nice dream.” Mabel brushed their noses together, slipping a hand down to play with his scarf. “I wish you were more. That _we_ were more. I want to be happy with you.” Eridan slid a hand up, cupping the back of her head and hesitantly drawing her the rest of the way down, kissing the corner of her mouth.

“I'm so flushed for you.” Eridan's mouth whispered traitorously against hers. Mabel sighed softly against him, her eyes slipping closed.

“I love you too, Eridan.” She told him, gracing him with a kiss before her eyes opened again; brown irises so dark they were almost _black_ peeked out from beneath sun-kissed lids. Eridan sighed when she pulled away, sitting up and swinging himself around so he could face the human.

“But where do we go from here? We can't rely on magic or faith and we can't do anything ourselves.” Eridan's voice trembled, accent mixing with his stutter, dipping and dancing together to make his words jumbled and barely understandable to an untrained ear. Mabel shrugged, moving so she could sit beside him; his arm lifted to curl around her shoulder, drawing her close to his chest.

“Where there's a will, there's a way?” Mabel suggested quietly. “I don't know.” she curled her legs up, burying her face into Eridan's shirt. “I just don't know.” she sighed, “I know this sucks though. Before I met you—my life was just this endless void of stupid.”

“Of stupid?” Eridan questioned, eyebrows furrowing. Mabel nodded, looking out at the sunset; it was a suspended flourish of bright colours. There was so many of them, they'd spent an entire evening trying to think of new names for the ones they couldn't identify.

“I guess it wasn't as stupid as it was pointless. No matter what I do, my brother was always...better. He's the smart one. He's calm and rational.” she shrugged. “I felt like it really didn't matter if I ever succeeded. But now—now there's _you._ And maybe it doesn't matter as much anymore.”

Eridan felt pride nibble at him; Mabel had told him this before, but it never failed to make him feel important. He shifted his hand down to rest it on her side. He wanted to gather her up in his arms and rain kisses up and over her cheeks like she'd once done; to gather the thick of her sweater in his hands and pull it over her head. Instead, Eridan kissed her forehead.

“You don't need to compare yourself to him. I bet he's not even half as cool as you are.” Eridan told her, jostling her slightly. She laughed at him, smacking his chest. “I bet he's a big nerd. Walks around with a pair of suspenders. Glasses.”

“That sounds a lot like you, Mr. Ampora.” Mabel chuckled, slipping a finger beneath one of his suspender straps. She fiddled with the thick, stretchy fabric for a moment, admiring it. “He's not a bad brother. He's a good guy, and he tries his best. I shouldn't be so bitter about this.”

“Why not?” Eridan questioned. “I figured that being a little bitter makes you a little, I don't know, spiteful. And spite it a great motivator.” Mabel rolled her eyes, patting his cheek.

“Because it's unhealthy.” She told him, brushing her hair from her eyes and blowing at a few strands that evaded capture. “Bitterness and spite aren't the same thing.” Eridan scoffed in mock offence.

“Says who? You?” His hand squeezed her side and she let out a noise between a snort and a giggle. Dipping down, he brushed their noses together, and then their mouths. Mabel accepted the kiss happily. “You're spreading lies. Filthy, disgusting lies.” Eridan accused, kissing her again and letting his ring-heavy fingers dip down to skate across her belly in a light tickle.

“Oh no, I've told one person that being spiteful and bitter are the same emotion.” Mabel told him, rolling her eyes. “I've told worse.”

“Me too.” Eridan agreed, tipping her face up further so he could inspect it. “At least they're both adjectives.” Her cheeks were round, full, and _beautiful._ The highblood inside of him knocked against his ribs and screamed about her having _red_ blood of all things, he couldn't help but appreciate the way it flooded her cheeks.

“That is definitely a plus.” Mabel agreed, sticking out her tongue when he pinched her cheek. “It's about time to go, isn't it?” she asked. Eridan nodded at her. “Do we _have_ to? Can't we just stay here a little longer?” Eridan removed his arm from around her, and she sat up. He got to his feet, brushing off stray pieces of grass and dirt from his previously pristine slacks.

Eridan offered the human a hand, and she took it without a second thought. Lifting from the ground, pulling the highblood with her smile like the gentle tug of the tide. He leaned to press a final kiss to her mouth—but she was gone. Like flashpaper, leaving the soft scent of fire, without so  much as a goodbye.

Feeling his own consciousness begin to bleed into reality, he took a deep breath.

 

   

Eridan's first order of business after showering was to call Karkat. Dave had called their sudden friendship an 'unsettling, unfortunate turn of events that he didn't want to touch with a ten-foot pole', or something equally as inane. Eridan had been equally surprised at the hand of friendship that Karkat had extended after the game had ended; it had caught him so off guard that he initially refused. It was meeting Mabel in the bubbles that had coaxed him into accepting the near-pale concern that Karkat had for him.

“Good fucking _morning,_ Eridan.” Was the greeting he received. “Any particular reason you're calling me before the sun is up or are you just getting some kind of fucking kick out of this?” There was a slight echo to his voice, suggesting that he'd slipped from his respiteblock to the bathroom. Most likely so he wouldn't wake his matesprit. Eridan had to take a moment to try and find his voice.

“I saw Mabel again last night.” he finally managed to choke out, fiddling with a curtain and staring out at the dark world beyond his window. It comforted him, somewhat. Karkat let out an irritated hum, and the highblood could almost hear the gears working in his head.

“You still want to find her, don't you? Eridan, look. I'm all for you flushing red and having your feeling's reciprocated or whatever the fuck. I really am, it's a proud moment in history. You deserve it, I'll give you a round of applause when I see you next.” The corner's of Eridan's lips tilted up at Karkat's babbled grumbling. “But you don't even know if this 'Mabel' even exists.”

“She does. Karkat she _does._ I promise. I'm not just grasping at straws here.”

Karkat let out a disgruntled sigh on the other end of the line, and Eridan followed him with a sigh of his own. He'd been talking about this girl for months, yet nothing ever seemed to come of is. But he _knew._ She was out there, somewhere.

“Alright, Eridan. You really think Mabel is out there, and I really don't have anything denying or confirming that. But I still don't know what you're expecting me to do.”

A door closed in the background, and a soft chattering erupted from Karkat's throat at the person who entered—Eridan assumed it was John.

Eridan wasn't sure what he wanted Karkat to do either; maybe share some advice, let him in on some big cosmic secret that might help him. But neither of those things were viable options in this case. John's voice was quiet in the background as he spoke to Karkat, affirming Eridan's suspicions.  

“I don't know. Just. Brainstorm? Help me backboard until I find something that's crazy enough to work?” Eridan suggested, gripping the phone in his hand a little tighter as he was greeted with silence.

“...I'll be over in about an hour. Don't do anything stupid until I get there. If there's a shitshow, I want to be there to see it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Songs for this fic:
> 
> The Dress Looks Nice On You by Sufjan Stevens
> 
> From Where You Are by Lifehouse
> 
> Want to stay updated? Click [here](http://everyday-im-preaching.tumblr.com/) to stay in the know!


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